Procurement issues will take center stage in upcoming legislative sessions, according to a survey of AIA state and local components conducted by the AIA Government Affairs department. Other issues for which components anticipate legislative activity this year include:

• Efforts to expand professional service taxes to architects
• Statewide building-code adoption
• Tort reform
• Interior-design practice acts.

Components said they plan to advocate for the adoption of qualifications-based selection (QBS), design-build, and other alternative forms of procurement-delivery systems.

The AIA national component administers the survey to help chapters plan their legislative activities and increase awareness of the advocacy efforts by their colleagues nationwide. In addition to tracking anticipated legislative activity, the survey follows how state components view other groups and their working relationships with those groups. Mirroring a trend of previous surveys, components indicated that they work most closely with engineering groups, giving them a rating of 4.25 out of a possible 5.

Based on the survey, the AIA Government Affairs department expects a continuation of the state legislative environment that has prevailed for the past few years. In many states, economic uncertainty and budget shortfalls mean difficult decisions regarding spending priorities. Many states already have resorted to short-term budget fixes and now need more permanent solutions, which may mean considering taxes on professional services, school stock plans, design-build, the bidding of A/E services, and construction management. The AIA Government Affairs department will work closely with components to provide resources to assist with their advocacy efforts.

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